Choose the Number One!

The Ciao consumer portal offers consumers in Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden comprehensive online shopping options in their respective national language. At Ciao, consumers can obtain all the online shopping information they need from one source. They can access more than 5.7 million consumer-written product reviews which cover more than 10 million products, as well as comparisons of online offers and merchants, and product information supplied directly by merchants. The consumer portal’s approximately 20 product categories cover all main areas of online shopping. Ciao is constantly expanding and updating its range of products and services to keep pace with the innovations and demands of the online market. Starting in September 2006, Ciao websites began to provide product videos to enhance our written product reviews. Similar to a salesperson’s product demonstration in a shop, such videos vividly illustrate a product’s advantages and disadvantages, and also visualise product comparisons across Ciao categories.

On the 1st of May 2007 Ciao GmbH accomplished a major step by separating its businesses into legally and operationally independent entities for Comparison Shopping and Internet survey solutions. As separate operating entities, the management teams of each business can grow and develop the businesses according to their specific needs and focus completely on the opportunities in each of their respective markets.

Ciao was founded in June 1999 in Munich. The goal was to provide consumers with a portal to exchange information about products and services, and in doing so increase information exchange and confluence in e-commerce against a background of high growth. Ciao became one of e-commerce’s first consumer portals. At the start of 2001/2002, the young Internet enterprise Ciao used the ongoing consolidation of the New Economy as an occasion to focus on its core areas of e-commerce and market research. Ciao ranks among the leaders of the e-commerce market thanks to its comprehensive range of services. Since 15 October 2008 Ciao is a wholly-owned company of the Microsoft Corporation.